In 1997, Congress passed the FDA Modernization Act, which required the FDA to review all drugs that contained mercury and determine their adverse effects on humans. For many years, Thimerosal, a mercury-based preservative, was added to childhood vaccines in multi-dose bottles, basically to increase profits for vaccine makers.

Its important to know that Thimerosal is not a necessary component for vaccines. If they are packaged in single dose vials, the preservative is not needed. There is mounting evidence, that shows our government knew about the dangers of adding Thimerosal to vaccines. Research by WFAA-TV revealed that the FDA began asking questions about the dangers as far back as 1972. By 1992, the preservative had been removed from dog vaccines and contact lens solutions because of its risks. And yet the government refused to order its removal from childhood vaccines for 10 more years.

In 2000, the FDA determined that infants were receiving much more mercury than was considered safe under EPA guidelines. A twelve-to-fourteen month old child, receiving the mandated vaccines under the Immunization Schedule, often received four to six shots during one doctor visit. Consequently over time, the child would be injected with as much as 40 times the amount of mercury considered safe.

Twenty years ago, autism only affected one in 10,000 children. However, according to the American Academy of Pediatrics, by January 2004, the incidence of autism rose to one in every 166 children. The Autism Autoimmunity Project reports that the disorder strikes 1 in 150 (or 1 in 68 families) today.

During the 1990s, some 40 million children were vaccinated and the number of Thimerosal containing vaccines given to children nearly tripled, and the financial rewards to drug companies as a result of the drastic increase were enormous. However, as the number of vaccines increased, autism rates inexplicably increased tenfold, according to the Spring issue of Mother Jones in 2004.

State by state statistics produced by the Department of Education, for the number of children aged 6-21 who have autism, compared the increase in cases over the 12-year period between 1992-93 and 2003-04, and the results were horrendous. In my home state of Ohio, in 1992-93 there were 22 cases of autism, in 2003-04 there were 5146 cases, or a 23,291% increase. In Illinois, there were only 5 cases 12 years ago, while there were 6005 in 2003-04. Mississippi had no cases of autism 12 years ago, but had 622 in 2003-04. Wisconsin had 18 cases in 1992-93 and 3259 cases in 2003-04.

Eli Lilly introduced Thimerosal in the 1930s with very little safety testing. According to a congressional report, a 1935 Eli Lilly internal document noted that Thimerosal was considered unsatisfactory as a serum for use on dogs. The product has been on California